Come Back to Me
by Trinity23Rose
Summary: : Chlex/ Passion brought them together, but then broke them apart. When Chloe is about to sign the divorce papers, she has an accident. Will she and Lex find their way back to each other?
1. Chapter 1

Description: Chlex/ Passion brought them together, but then broke them apart. When Chloe is about to sign the divorce papers, she has an accident. Will she and Lex find their way back to each other?

* * *

><p><strong>Part 1<strong>

_Present Day_

Chloe got into her car with papers in her hand. She had just visited her lawyer and one signature would be enough for her now to regain her freedom.

Five years of marriage and just a few seconds to sign the papers. That was how it would end.

Once she had thought they had been a perfect match. Maybe even match made in heaven even despite the circumstances that had brought them together.

She had never met an equally strong person to her. Maybe that was the problem? She thought. Maybe that was why they hadn't worked. They had kept arguing about petty things, then about much larger until finally… one of those arguments had caused Chloe something she had had considered the most precious thing.

He had been sorry. He still was sorry, but she could see that he was slowly giving up. He was tired of fighting, of convincing her that they could still make it work. Tired of telling her that he loved her.

Well, she still loved him too, but sometimes love wasn't enough. She knew they would kill each other eventually if they stayed together, so she decided to end it. For both their sakes.

Sometimes passion in love was not a good thing. Sometimes it destroyed it.

Chloe finally had the courage to send Lex the divorce papers. All he needed to do was to sign them. And they would be no longer.

She was afraid of her life going on after that. She was afraid she would lose their mutual friends. Clark, man she had known since high school, was Lex's best friend now. He was Chloe's friend too. Would she see him again? Would they be nice to each other?

Why her whole life was crashing down around her? Why she needed to be the one to make sacrifices? Lex would stay in Metropolis, where his company was, he would lead the same life he had before, except without her by his side.

Chloe, on the other hand, would probably have to move. How could she stay in the Daily Planet after this? She had already sacrificed a lot for her relationship when not being able to write about her husband. She had made up for it by discovering other affairs and she had eventually been promoted. Now she would be laughed upon in the building. She would be mocked. Why had she sacrificed so much, worked so hard when eventually, her relationship crumbled anyway?

Maybe she should move. But to where? Metropolis was the city she loved with her whole heart. She didn't imagine her life anywhere else.

Tears appears in her eyes and she wiped them up quickly. She had already cried out a whole ocean of them. She would not start again.

She grabbed a pen from her purse with the intention of signing the papers and then dropping them off to Lex's secretary in LuthorCorp, but she hesitated.

"Shit, I'm late!" she yelled when she glanced at the watch on her hand.

She dropped the papers and started the car.

_Just fucking sign it, _she told herself, _just do it and it'll be over with!_

Chloe looked at the road to see if there was any car that she needed to be careful about and then she reached for the papers again. She could just sign them on the spot and it would be all over. That was what she wanted, wasn't it?

Only in the very moment she took her eyes off the road and started looking for the pen she had dropped… she heard a screech of tires and then felt a crash.

After that she did not see or feel anything. She drifted away…

* * *

><p>Lex was working.<p>

Those days he had been always working. Everything as not to think about Chloe and about his personal life falling apart.

There was nothing more he could do. She would not listen to him. She was adamant on leaving him and it was killing him.

He loved her. He had loved her from the moment they had had sex for the first time. He knew that it did not sound pretty, but that was the ugly truth. She had taken his heart back then and walked away with it when they had finished… no, it hadn't been making love, he thought… when they had finished fucking.

Still, it did not change the fact that he loved her. He would always be in love with her. She was so different than anyone else. She was independent, bossy, she said what she thought, she never let him change her or her opinions on things. He loved that about her, but in the same time that was the very thing that broke them apart. They couldn't seem to coexist together without starting a fight. Eventually, that had caused them something very dear. The lost was unbearable and Lex could still feel the pain that it left. There was nothing he could do about it, so he had tried to focus on wining Chloe back, on convincing her that they could still be together.

He failed.

And it was over.

Just like that.

His heart was broken and he couldn't believe how much pain that had caused him too.

"Mr. Luthor," his secretary walked inside, smiling to him coquettishly and swaying her hips a little too eagerly.

Lex kept on ignoring her pathetic attempts at seducing him and usually he laughed it off, but right now it wasn't funny anymore. It was annoying. And he was done tolerating it.

"Ms…" he started, almost saying her name to tell her off and threaten her with firing her when his cell phone rang.

He reached for it and answered it instead, "Luthor."

"Lex Luthor? Are you the husband of Chloe Sullivan-Luthor?" somebody asked.

"Yes…" Lex hesitated. For how long now? Technically, he still was her husband, so he did not correct himself.

"Mr. Luthor, I'm very sorry, but your wife had an accident. She's in hospital right now."

"What?! What happened?! Is she alright?!" Lex raised his voice, standing up and taking his car keys.

"She had a car accident. She will pull through, but she's unconscious at the moment. We had to put her into induced coma. When the accident happened, your wife wasn't wearing any seatbelts and she crashed through the front window. I can assure you though, that she was lucky. Actually, she was extremely lucky, Mr. Luthor."

"Where?!" he growled at the poor guy who was just doing his job.

"Metropolis General, sir."

"I'll be right there!" Lex hang up and ran to the door.

"Mr. Luthor… what…?" The damned secretary was still there.

"My wife's in the hospital and you're trying to hit on me? If that happens again, I will have to fire you. Now, excuse me, I need to go! Cancel all my meetings for the rest of day!"

And he was gone.

* * *

><p>"Lex Luthor. I'm looking for my wife." Lex finally got to the hospital.<p>

"Oh, yes, Mr. Luthor, you can go see her in the room 223," he was informed by a nurse.

"How is she?" he asked, worried sick. "Is she alright?"

"Nothing seems to be broken, but she hit her head pretty hard. She's in a coma for now. It helps to heal the brain faster."

"Thank you."

Lex turned around to find the right room.

He was so relieved that Chloe would be alright. He didn't know what he would do if something more severe happened to her.

"Oh and… Mr. Luthor?" the nurse called after him.

"Yes?" He turned back to her, now clearly annoyed that she dared keeping him away from his wife.

"This was in the car with her. We think… this might have something to do with your wife's distraction on the road." The nurse handed him over some documents and he took them, seeing the blood stains on them.

Then Lex froze. Those were the divorce papers…

He did this to Chloe. He was always the one to hurt her again, even when he didn't want to. She crashed her car because she was about to sign those or… she was hesitating.

Lex closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The sight of Chloe's blood on the papers made him nauseous. He refused to look at the nurse again. He knew what her eyes would tell him. She was probably thinking that he was a bad man. Well, she could join the Luthors hate club in Metropolis, because Lex was sure that too many people hated him. They hated him for no reason but his blood. They hated him for what his father had been doing when he had still been alive. The fact that Lex had seemed to turn it all around did not seem to matter to those people at all.

He finally reached Chloe's room and saw her pale and unconscious, lying in bed, the machines around her beeping.

His hands shook and he almost dropped the papers, then he walked over to her bedside table and left them there.

There was a chair right next to the bed, so he sat in it.

"Chloe, I'm so sorry…" he whispered, his voice shaking. "What can I ever do to repay you for all of this? You know I never wanted it. I always wanted to give you happiness. I love you!"

She couldn't hear him.

He reached his hand to touch hers, but then he changed his mind. They were getting a divorce. In fact, he could sign the bloody papers - metaphorically and literally, what made a cruel irony - and then all they needed was for her to sign it once she woke up.

He didn't touch it though. He just stayed by her side.

"I wish I could turn back time. I wish I could be different. Please, forgive me, Chloe," he asked again, not really expecting any response.

He went back in his mind to the moment that had started their bumpy relationship...


	2. Chapter 2

**Part 2**

_Past_

Chloe was having a very bad day.

It had been a year since she started working in the Daily Planet and she still hadn't gone anywhere up. She was stuck in the basement. She was working he ass off, but so far, it hadn't paid off. Exactly one year ago she had sworn to be promoted in a couple of months and it seemed to be just a wishful thinking now. Added to that, her private life was almost non-existent. She had gone out with a couple of guys those past few years, but they had only ended up disappointing her. She had never found the right one. Now she was twenty four, struggling reporter, looking for a man that would sweep her off her feet. Maybe she should give up on that last one. Sweeping a girl off her feet happened only in romantic comedies. Real life wasn't like that. People were getting tired of each other way too quickly. Love didn't last a whole lifetime anymore. No one talked like in the movies either, no one said: I wish I could have more time with my wife/husband. There seem to always be too much time.

Tonight Chloe was sitting by the bar, over a glass of red wine, drowning her sorrows in alcohol.

"Chloe Sullivan, fancy meeting you here," she suddenly heard a very familiar voice.

She closed her eyes and sighed. That was just her luck.

"Lex Luthor," she said and finally looked at him.

He was standing right next to her, in a immaculate suit. He must have come straight from LuthorCorp.

"What are you doing in such a place?" he asked.

She just shrugged. "Bad day, I guess."

"May I?"

"Knock yourself out."

He took the chair right next to her and waved to the barman to give him an order.

"Want something stronger?" he turned to Chloe.

"You know, I think I just might. I will be needing more than wine."

"No problem."

Chloe looked at Lex with peaked interest. He was still the best friend of her friend, Clark Kent, but they hadn't been interacting with each other since… since Smallville, she finally realized. Whenever she met Clark for lunch, Lex was never there.

"Just look at this irony, we share a friend, yet we meet accidentally in a bar," Lex noticed like he was reading Chloe's mind and then he chuckled.

The barman put two glasses of scotch in front of them.

Chloe took hers and gulped it down, shaking her head and wincing.

"Really bad day then," Lex deduced and drunk all his alcohol as well, nodding to the barman again. "Want to tell me why?" he asked her.

"It's not just one thing," Chloe answered ambiguously. "My life is heading nowhere."

"I guess you need this more than I do." Lex pointed the alcohol.

"Yeah, thanks. So… why are you doing here? A bar isn't exactly a place in which I would expect to see you."

"The feeling is mutual," Lex noticed. "But for me… I just didn't feel like drinking alone today."

"So your plan was to walk in here and hit on some empty bimbo?" Chloe asked, alcohol clearly bringing her walls down.

Lex laughed.

"No, actually I just wanted to drink... How have you been?"

"Clark hasn't told you?" Chloe seemed to be surprised and then she drunk again.

"Has he been telling you about me?" Lex answered back.

"Well, no…"

"That's the point, I guess. Clark is very private when it comes to his friends and I think you share that quality."

"Yes, I do… Friendship with Clark is the best thing that has ever happened to you," Chloe blurted out, feeling the room spinning around her. The music didn't make it any better.

"What?" Lex frowned, looking at her.

"It's true when you think of it. Clark makes you a better person. I always wondered where you'd be without him."

"Is that so?" Lex asked, clearly offended. "You really think that low of me, Chloe?"

"Sorry, you shouldn't have bought me another round. Alcohol makes me say what I think."

"Oh, does it now? I thought you always said what you thought."

"With slight euphemisms." She squinted.

"I'm already scared what's in your mind when those inhibitions are stripped."

"They are already stripped, Lex."

"Funny, that word is so…"

She rolled her eyes. "Really? Are you hitting on me?"

"Well, your life is apparently miserable and you have consumed too much alcohol. Having sex with me would be a highlight of your day," he said, clearly insulting her what he could gather from the look on her face.

"How dare you, Lex? Not every woman is so easy! But you wouldn't know, would you? How many notches on your bed you have already? Or maybe you stopped counting?"

"I don't scratch my bed, it's solid oak."

She really wanted to hit him right now.

"You're a cocky, arrogant bastard and I have no idea what Clark is still doing being your friend!" she said instead.

"How could you know if you haven't talked to me for years?" Lex asked. "Apparently, I've changed. Clark told me so."

"He didn't say anything to me."

"Why would he? What that could possibly merit? You think you know me, Chloe, but the truth is you know nothing. You just know my name and you think that speaks for itself. Well, here's news for you, it doesn't. My father is long gone and I am no longer like him."

"You know, actions always speak more than words," Chloe said, drinking again.

"I think you've had enough," Lex stopped her, putting his hand on hers.

She pushed it away.

"You don't tell me what I can and cannot do!"

"Suit yourself. You will be the one with a hangover the next morning. Good luck with that. You don't look like a person that can drink."

If look could kill, Chloe thought, shooting one to Lex.

"I don't want you to destroy my reputation now, so I may as well tell you that it has been a very long time since I had a one night stand," he told her.

"Yeah, right," Chloe snorted and got off her chair, almost losing her balance.

Then a strong pair of hands caught her.

"Careful there, you don't want to knock yourself out," Lex warned her.

"Get your hands off me!" She pushed him away and walked to the bathroom.

When inside, she splashed some water over her face and took a few deep breaths.

"God, I'm so drunk," she told to herself in the mirror as the room was still spinning.

She closed her eyes again and then she heard the door opening and then the lock clicking, indicating that no one could walk inside now.

"What…?" She barely managed to turn to the person who had just gone in when that same pair of hands that had held her a moment before, was now on her arms, then hips, bringing her closer.

The next thing she knew Lex Luthor was kissing her.

He took her by surprise, but before she managed to push him away, something stopped her.

She was drunk and he was drunk. They didn't see each other at all. Why not just have sex with him? Maybe that was really what she needed? A one night stand.

Before she managed to change her mind, it was too late. She was too far gone. Lex's hands all over her.

He raised her up and she sat on a washbowl, her legs immediately going around his waist and bringing him closer, imprisoning him in her hold. He slid his hands under her blouse and squeezing her breasts, his thumbs stroking her nipples. She whimpered into his mouth and grazed herself against his crotch. He moaned and his hands got to her skirt, then under it and found her wet when pushing the panties aside.

Chloe got to his fly and soon freed his hard cock. He was big and she smiled at the sight. After all, Lex had a reputation to live up to.

"Right pocket…" he rasped when he started mouthing her throat. "Condom."

"I'm on pills…" she answered, stroking him. She was desperate now. She needed him inside her. She was so wet and so needy for a good fuck. "Are you… healthy?" she moaned again when he slid his finger inside her.

"Of course," he answered, sounding offended, but she quickly forgot about that when he positioned himself, shoving his cock inside her. It went all the way in and Chloe ached her back, moaning.

How come she had never before considered having sex with Lex? He was like the god of sex!

She just got her prove when he started fucking her mercilessly.

She was in a pretty uncomfortable position, but she didn't even feel it now, because he was making her feel so damn amazing.

When she climaxed, her vision went white and she thought she passed out.

"Wow… you're so good in this," she rasped into his ear.

"You doubted me again, didn't you?" he asked in a exasperated voice. "You're not so bad yourself."

She smacked him.

"Hey!"

She pushed him away, got down to the floor, straightened her clothes and left the bathroom with no words.

"I will never understand you, Chloe Sullivan," Lex just said to himself, shaking his head and smiling.

* * *

><p>He was right. He was fucking right! Crossed Chloe's mind when she woke up the next morning with a hangover from here to eternity.<p>

She barely got out of bed and hit the shower. That did not help for her headache and nausea, so she went to the kitchen to take some aspirin and make coffee.

She was angry at the whole world when in fact, she should be angry with herself. She was the one to drink so much and she was the one to have sex with Lex Luthor.

She didn't know what to think of it. It was clearly amazing. Actually, even though she had been drunk last night, she could still say that it was the best sex she had ever had.

Only she could not over think it. It was just sex. And it was Lex. She couldn't have chosen worse. Or maybe she had chosen right? She had wanted to forget and she had wanted to feel something and he had made her feel so damn special. And they had had that great chemistry. She had shoved him away and yet, he had come to the bathroom like he had known what she had needed.

She shook her head, glad for the aspirin to start working. Slow, but she was feeling better.

She decided to make breakfast. Being hungry was a good sign too as the nausea passed.

Her cell rang, so she idly picked it up and said, "Chloe Sullivan speaking."

"Hi, Chloe."

She stilled with the phone by her ear and a frying pan in another hand.

"Lex?" she asked, totally surprised.

Why was he calling her?!

"Maybe it's totally wrong of me, but I was wondering… could we meet? Maybe go to dinner tonight?"

"Dinner?" Chloe repeated like a damn parrot, still in shock. "To… tonight?"

"It's Sunday and we both have a free day. What do you say? You don't have any other plans, do you?"

Chloe thought hard. A dinner with Lex Luthor or an evening on a couch in front of a TV with a box of ice cream. The first option sounded better, much better, but it was still Lex. And maybe she wouldn't mind so much if only they hadn't done last night what they had done!

"Is that hesitation about what happened last night? Come on, Chloe, we're both adults. We had a very good time and I would like to get to know you better now. Without that much alcohol in your system, of course."

"Get to know me better?" she asked again, using his exact words. No wonder she still hadn't got her promotion in the Planet if her vocabulary shrunk that much.

"And possibly convince you I'm not as bad as you think."

"Alright. Pick me up at eight."

She so couldn't wait to tell Clark about it, she thought ironically.


	3. Chapter 3

**Part 3**

It hit Chloe when she started dressing up for the dinner she was about to have with Lex. Had she still been drunk this morning? Why else would she agree to his proposal? What had happened the night before was not a base for a relationship. It just… didn't seem to be right. Still, Chloe couldn't help but being a little curious to why Lex was so adamant to spend more time with her. What could he possibly see in her? That night she had been at her lowest. She was sure she hadn't been very appealing, especially when being so drunk.

It did not lie in Chloe's nature to give up. She would feel mortified if she had to call Lex to tell him she changed her mind now. She wasn't that kind of a woman. She had said she would be there, so she would be there. After all, it could be interesting. She just couldn't drink anymore. It would not do her any good, both for her health and her choices. She couldn't wake up in Lex's bed the next morning, period.

Just when she was about to go out, her cell rang. It was Clark.

"Now?" she asked the phone with a frown, then she decided to pick up. Clark was too overprotective and if she didn't pick up, he would start worrying and then he would come over to check if she was alright. Most of the times she liked that about him, he seemed to be the exception in all the men she had known, but tonight she really did not. "Hi, Clark. I'm busy. Can we talk later?" she picked up just in the very moment that the buzzer at her door sounded.

"Are you really having a date with Lex?" Clark just asked straight away.

"Eh… well… yeah… but you know… it's not like a date date, it's just… dinner…" she stammered and the buzzer sounded again. "Just a minute!" She called in the door's direction.

"To me it sounds like a date," Clark decided. "I thought you didn't like each other."

"Didn't like?" Chloe repeated, feeling stupid by doing so. "No, it was just… I thought low of Lex."

"Exactly. And now you're darting him?"

"He told you that?"

"Yes. Lois keeps telling me to leave it alone, because it's kind of sweet that two of my best friends have a date together, but…"

"Clark, this is the time to listen to Lois," Chloe interrupted him. "Not in the sweet part, but in general. "I'm gonna be late. Bye."

"But…"

She hang up.

She had thought once that if she and Clark had gotten together, they would have been a great couple, but her crush on him had faded pretty quickly and since that time, she had never thought of him as more than just a friend. Then Lois, her cousin, had met him and they had fallen in love. Now they couldn't be happier together.

Chloe finally opened the door, revealing Lex all suited up and handsome.

Oh no, she just did not think he was handsome!

Then she was assaulted by foggy memories from last night and felt her cheeks burning. She saw what that suit covered and it was a beautiful body. Even if she did not see it all.

"Sorry," she mumbled. "Clark has a tendency to call in the least expected moments."

"That's fine," Lex answered, stepping aside, so she could leave her apartment and close the door.

On their way to the elevator, he asked, "What did you tell him?"

"Clark? I think the question should be what did you tell him, Lex?" Chloe asked in a sharp voice. "Did you tell him about last night? How could you?!"

"Hey, don't get so irritated with me so soon," Lex told her. "I did not tell Clark any details," he corrected, "I just mentioned I'm taking you to dinner tonight."

"That's all?"

"Yes, I wouldn't tell him that we hooked up last night, Chloe. I know Clark is also your friend and some things you would prefer to stay between us alone."

They finally walked into the street and Lex opened the door to his limo for her.

"Why did you bother with this car?" Chloe asked, chuckling as she got in.

"A beautiful woman deserves a special treatment," Lex said, following her and the limo took off.

"A lady, maybe," Chloe said, suddenly feeling very ashamed of herself. "After last night, I am not a lady."

"It was a rough time for you," Lex said, clearly trying to make her feel better and it seemed so out of character that Chloe frowned. Maybe she did not know him as well she had thought she did.

"Why did you do this last night?" she suddenly asked him. She needed to know the answer.

"I couldn't resist. Even when you're drunk, you're irresistible."

"Even if I'm drunk? Thank you very much!" Chloe huffed.

"What did I say wrong again? You seem to keep yelling at me for no reason."

Chloe sighed.

"Alright, you are not the reason for my irrigation. I am! Last night should have never happened and I should have never accepted your invitation, happy?"

"Why not?"

"Lex!"

"Tell me. What is so wrong with me that you hate me so much?"

"I don't hate you."

"So what is it that you feel toward me?"

"I… I don't know," she admitted, biting her lip. "I'm just ashamed of what I let you do to me. I'm not that kind of a girl. And I don't understand why you want something to do with me after that… easiness."

"You're not the only one who feels this way, Chloe," he suddenly confessed and she looked at him, her interest picked. "Part of me regrets what happened, but there is also the other part, stronger one that wants to see where this would take us. What we did last night, it reminded me of my adolescence and I am not proud of it. I wish we could meet again in different circumstances like a banquet or a party organized by Lois and Clark, but we met last night. I want to get to know you better. I need you. Does this make any sense to you?"

For the very first time, Chloe saw honesty in Le_x_'s eyes and that surprised her. She remembered the night before and their conversation, but it was all foggy because of the alcohol she had consumed, so she couldn't be sure if he had looked at her like that then.

"Alright," she found herself saying. "I will give you a chance. Just don't blow it."

"I won't." Lex smiled and the car stopped.

Chloe noticed they parked in front of the best restaurant in town.

"How on earth did you get a reservation on such a short notice?" she asked, stunned.

"I'm a Luthor," the pompous answer came.

So there was still something from the old Lex in there that she remembered.

* * *

><p>As they talked during their dinner, Chloe found out that there was a lot of things they could argue about, starting from the fact that he ordered food for her and she snapped at him for it.<p>

"I know what is the best in here," Lex explained himself.

"So what? I don't have to say what I want? How can you just order for me like that, Lex?!"

Later on, when their meals were brought, she did not dare to say that she actually found that food beyond delicious. It wasn't the point. The point was that Lex should at least have the decency to ask her if he could order for her. That would have sounded more polite.

"How is it going at work?" he asked in the middle of their meal. "You're doing what you always wanted, aren't you?"

"Yes," Chloe agreed, but with not enthusiasm.

"Hey, what's wrong? Does someone in the Planet bother you? Just say a word and I take care of them."

"It's no one and I don't like the sound of what you just said."

"What? Can't I exert my power to help someone I care about?"

"No if that will hurt someone else," Chloe voiced her opinion. "You can't just keep doing those things, Lex. People might get hurt and you wouldn't even know it!"

"Then what is it? How can I help?" he prompted.

"You can't," Chloe said in an exasperated voice. "You can't fix everything with your power!"

"Then what's the problem?"

"Oh, for a god's sake!" Chloe cursed.

"Well, I least I can say that I like a woman with a temper."

"I don't think dining with you will do any good to my nonexistent career!" she finally told him the truth, snapping at him again. Why was he doing it? Did he enjoy provoking her like that?

"Nonexistent career?" he just repeated and made her furious.

"I'm trying. I am trying really fucking hard," she said sharply, "and nothing! They don't see me!"

"For a god's sake!" Lex raised his voice and then he immediately toned it down a bit, because people started to look in their direction and he did not want a scandal. "You are Chloe Sullivan. Since when dating me would stop you from getting a promotion? Besides, I am no longer evil. Chloe, there really is nothing to write about me or the LuthorCorp that would be even remotely interesting. You can get the real scoop. I know you can."

She hated when he was right, but this seemed like one of those times. She was whining. When had she turned into a whining Chloe? She had always been the combatant Chloe! She had been willing to do anything for a story! Even to put herself in danger!

* * *

><p>When the dinner was over, Chloe had confused feelings about Lex, but at least she was glad she did not let him on and did not wind up in his bed.<p>

This time she came back home safely. He did say he wanted to see her again and he did not expect anything more from her, but right now she pushed that into the dark corners of her mind and started thinking about something else.

In some way the meeting with him, the _date_ as Clark had called it, did her a lot of good. She finally felt like herself again. As much as Lex was infuriating, he made her use her sharp, long forgotten tongue, made her believe in herself again, made her defend herself. What was most important, Lex made her want to prove him and to all of her colleagues in the Planet that she was worth the promotion, that she could get the best scoop.

* * *

><p>Lex couldn't be more proud of her.<p>

He put the paper down and smiled.

She had not spoken to him for two weeks, but she had done it! She had landed the first page in the Planet! Money laundering! And it had nothing to do with LuthorCorp!

The only thing that bothered him was that she seemed not to care about him at all. Maybe he had provoked her to go out there and get the story, but in the same time he had given her a reason not to call him. She had been busy.

Only he couldn't forget her.

It had never happened to him before. There was not a single girl that could occupy his mind like that.

Chloe Sullivan was a challenge. Chloe Sullivan fascinated him.

He wanted her. He needed her. And he couldn't explain why.

"Screw it," he murmured under his nose and picked up his phone. He would call her and ask for another dinner to celebrate. He needed to do it now before some moron from work would get interested in her. And then of course that moron would use her. Lex could make sure she was safe.

When he was choosing her number, his buzzer sounded.

He heaved himself from his chair, put the phone down and answered.

"Yes?"

"Mr. Luthor," said the caretaker from the lobby, "Miss Sullivan is here to see you. Shall I let her in?"

"Yes, thank you," Lex answered and smiled to himself.

That would be interesting. What could Chloe possibly want from him?

When he finally opened the door for her, he said, "I thought you were never gonna show."

He could see her staring at him with flames in her eyes.

Oh, he forgot that he had taken off his jacket and undone all the buttons in his shirt. Chloe now had a perfect view on a part of his bare chest.

"I was just about to get a shower," he explained when she still did not say anything. "I read your article. Congratulations. It was a really good piece."

"Shut up and kiss me," she just said to his astonishment, grabbed the lapels of his shirt and brought him closer, crashing her lips against his.

He couldn't help it. He kissed her back. He was devouring her mouth, using this opportunity and giving her all he got. She moaned in response and pressed her body against his, feeling his growing erection, sliding her hands into his shirt and then stroking his back.

Lex kicked the door shut.

"…Chloe…" He pulled away, breathless. "I was just…"

"We can take a shower later. Together," she said and kissed him again. "Bedroom?"

He did not try to stop her the second time. There was no alcohol on her breath, so she was sober and she had come to his place out of her own violation. He would be a fool if he did not use that opportunity. He wanted her so much it hurt. He had been waiting for her for two weeks now.

He picked her up and carried to the bedroom, then dropped on the bed and they started getting rid of their clothes. Soon enough, Chloe was lying naked on his bed, looking so delicious, so beautiful. Her blonde curls scattered around her head. She looked like an angel. Like an angel of desire.

And Lex wanted nothing more than to sink into her, become one with her and never let go.

So he did.

"Lex! Oh my GOD! You're even better in this when you're sober!" Chloe screamed when he effectively brought her to a climax.

He really wanted to try for two, but he didn't think he could last that long. What that woman was doing to him was inexplicable.

"I can make you come twice, in the shower. What do you say?" he asked her, still lying on her, still being inside of her, breathless, with no strength to get up.

"It's on. Let's see if you can do this when you're so tired already," she said, chuckling.

"Little minx," Lex complained and finally got up, taking her hand and leading her to the bathroom. "The bet is on."


	4. Chapter 4

**Part 4**

When Chloe opened her eyes the next morning, she could right away tell that she wasn't in her bed.

Then she remembered being promoted at work for the break-through article she had written and feeling a sudden gratitude toward Lex. He was the one to put her back on track after all. It was all thanks to him. And she wanted him so badly. She couldn't even explain it. It was just there, inside her, making her want him, making her crave for him and his lips and his body…

The door opened and as she sat on the bed, she saw Lex bringing a tray full of food and two glasses of orange juice in.

"How did we end up like this again?" Chloe asked, putting her hand to her head, but then she noticed the sheet sliding down her body, so she held it up.

"You tell me. You were the one that showed up here last night," Lex chuckled. He clearly was in a great mood.

He finally reached the bed and put the tray on the bedside table. "For you," he urged her to eat and when she still didn't look at it, he added, "At least this time we weren't drunk and actually made it to the bed."

"That's not funny," Chloe scolded him. "I just… I can't believe my impulses recently."

"Well, I like them very much," Lex assured her and kissed her.

Once his lips touched hers, she did forget about her worries. Maybe it was about pheromones? She thought. Why else would she desire that infuriating man so badly?

"Eat, you need strength," Lex said with a smile when he pulled away from her. What his close presence did to her did not miss his attention.

"Last night… I was… thankful… for what you did to me. Without you giving me a lesson, I wouldn't be here now."

"You know, you could have just said thank you. You kissed me instead."

"Yeah." She bit her lip. "There's something wrong with me. Seriously wrong."

"Why? Because it's so wrong of you to want me? A Luthor?" Lex asked, suddenly hurt.

"No, it's not that… I just… Oh, Lex, I'm sorry… I'm just scared of myself. I never did something like this. It feels… dirty somehow."

"Maybe you just never felt the real passion," he suggested.

"Don't be smarter than me… hey! Where's coffee?" she asked when looking at the tray on the bedside table.

"You clearly drink too much coffee, Chloe. It's not healthy. I thought you might want to try starting a new day with a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice."

"Who are you to tell me what I should eat or drink?!" she suddenly raised her voice.

"I… I just…"

"You should know that when I don't drink coffee, no one can stand me! Now, where can I get a cup?!" She got out of bed, covering herself with the sheet.

"Alright, I'll make you one…" Lex rolled his eyes.

"Don't you roll your eyes at me! You probably drink coffee in the morning too!"

"I don't deny you your precious coffee!" he raised his voice as well, couldn't believe that she started a fight over such an insignificant thing. "I just thought it would be a good idea to drink something _before_ you drink coffee. It's not smart to have caffeine on an empty stomach…"

"So you're saying that I'm stupid?!" Chloe burst at him. "Fine! Here you go!" She grabbed the glass of juice and gulped it down. "Happy?!" She couldn't admit that she actually found it delicious, she was proving a point after all.

"Can we just go back to saying good morning?" Lex suggested with a sigh of resignation.

"Lex, I don't think this is going to work," Chloe told him honestly. "Look at us, we can't stop fighting. Even over the smallest things."

* * *

><p><em>Three weeks later<em>

"Oh my god!" Chloe screamed when she was coming down from her climax and felt Lex spilling his seed inside her. "That was amazing!"

They were both in his bed. Again. Having sex. Or fucking. She had no idea how to differ those two anymore. All she knew was that she felt better than ever. She loved being with Lex. She loved him making her feel this way. She thought it was nearly impossible for it to feel this good, but Lex managed. He was sending her to heaven and hell and back to earth.

They collapsed on their backs and tried to catch their breaths.

They were still arguing. They were arguing all the time. Chloe had left Lex's apartment in a fury four times, but then she came back, because she couldn't find anyone else to make her feel so good. Once, he was the one to appear in her door and beg her to give them another chance. Something was clearly pulling them together like they were magnets.

The last, huge fight they had was about him buying her clothes. Chloe decided that she was capable of making money on her own and did not need Lex to dress her up. She went even further, telling him that he did not own her. If she accepted all those clothes it would be like he was making all the decisions for her as well. He did not understand her way of thinking on that matter, but he let it go. He knew better by now than to be stubborn with her.

He did buy her some lingerie from time to time though. And that she liked.

"Clark suspects something," Chloe said when she managed to calm her heartbeat. "He was asking me about you two days ago when we had lunch."

"That was why you said you couldn't make it for the lunch with me," Lex realized. "You know, it would be simpler if we just ate all together. How long will we hide this from him?"

"And what _this _is exactly?" Chloe asked, turning to a side and supporting her head on her elbow. Lex did the same and looked her in the eye.

"A… relationship?" he prompted.

"Are you seriously asking me?"

"We never defined this," he admitted. "All I know is that I want to be with you, Chloe, no matter what the price. I know we have our differences, but that is where the chemistry comes from. I'm not saying that we wouldn't have it without all the fights…" he added quickly, now knowing by the look on Chloe's face when she was getting angry with him. "We just need to think of it as a benefit, not the other way around."

"So as long as we end all our fights in bed, we'll be fine? And this is supposed to be a definition of a healthy relationship?" She raised her eyebrows in surprise and then she laughed. "We're both screwed up, Lex."

"I don't care. I just want to be with you. I say we should tell Clark and just go out of hiding."

"I didn't know we were actually hiding."

"We never go out. We just stay… in…" Lex said carefully. " I want more. I want… all of it, Chloe. For the first time I feel like I actually can get somewhere with a woman. I care about you. Can we at least try to be in a real relationship? My feelings for you only grow stronger."

"You know, this is the first time I don't want to scream at you," Chloe laughed. "Seriously, it's a good sign."

"So do you want to try?"

"I think we should try. If we don't, we may always wander what if."

"You have no idea how happy I am that you said that." Lex kissed her and they grew more urgent again. Soon he was hard and he began working on Chloe's arousal. He did not have to do that much longer though. She was ready. She always was for him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Part 05**

"I'm really sorry about this morning," Lex whispered into Chloe's ear when they were lying in her bed, exhausted after a very heated afternoon. "I didn't mean to provoke you for another fight."

"But it ended rather hot, don't you think?" Chloe asked him.

"Oh, yes," Lex rasped when she snuggled into his body. "Especially the part when you were on top and suddenly licked my head." He stifled a laugh.

"I thought it was erotic," she complained.

"It was. It just surprised me, that's all. My head is very sensitive without hair," he told her.

"Really?" Chloe asked, bringing her hand to his scalp and massaging it gently. "This might be my favorite part of your body," she confessed.

"Are you serious? _My head_? Your favorite part?"

"Don't look so insulted. What's wrong with it? I find it irresistible."

"You're weird."

"Just because your favorite part of your body is your cock, doesn't mean it has to be mine too."

"Now you really insulted me," Lex complained, pretending to be mad.

"Don't get me wrong, it's impressive, but every man has it."

"Alright. I love your eyes. What d'you say for that?" Lex asked her.

"That's not very original. Lots of men love women's eyes… Shit!" she suddenly exclaimed, looking at the clock on the bedside table. "We're supposed to meet Clark and Lois in an hour! And I'm not ready!" She jumped out of the bed and ran to the bathroom.

"An hour is a plenty of time!" Lex called after her.

"Says a male who doesn't have any hair on his head!" he heard Chloe's voice from the bathroom. "You just need to take a shower, put your suit on and use some cologne! I need to take a shower, wash my hair, then dry it and then the makeup and… Oh God! I'm going to be late!"

Lex laughed and closed his eyes. Maybe he could take a short nap.

* * *

><p>"My hair looks awful," Chloe complained when she and Lex entered the restaurant.<p>

"It's lovely and we're already twenty minutes late," Lex grumbled.

"Well, if we'd been here on time, my hair would've looked ever worse," Chloe's answer came.

This time Lex chose not to say anything. They could not afford a quarrel in public.

Clark and Lois were already seated by the table and waiting for them.

"We are so sorry!" Chloe rushed with her apologies. "We were…" she stopped.

"…stuck in traffic," Lex finished after her.

Lois eyed them carefully. "Mhm… of course you were," she said, but Chloe knew that her cousin did not buy a single word. She knew exactly what had detained them.

"Clark was so surprised when you two started dating," Lois said when they finally ordered their meals, "but I told him that it was nothing shocking. You two are both strong and maybe this relationship is exactly what you need. You two need an equal partner, you know? Lex, let's face it, you would subdue any woman that is not Chloe and you, Chloe, would do that to any other man."

"Like you did to Clark?" Chloe asked and Lex started laughing.

If Lois's eyes could kill…

"Lois, we're not here to talk about the nature of our relationship," Chloe added, slightly mad at her cousin.

"Well, actually, I like that theory, because it's true," Lex agreed with Chloe's cousin, what, on the other hand, earned him a dreadful look from his girlfriend.

"And here we go…" Clark said. "I really love that you guys got together, but this is what I was afraid of. Neither of you will ever give up and agree with the other."

"We've already come to that conclusion," Lex agreed, "but this is what makes it all so interesting, isn't it, Chloe?" he turned to the blonde.

"Yeah… very…" she admitted and started blushing.

* * *

><p>"Lois, come on! You could go to the bathroom yourself!" Chloe complained when her cousin pushed her into the room.<p>

"Yeah, well, but I don't need to pee. I just needed to talk to you alone. Isn't that what bathrooms are mostly for in those places? Either to escape from a bad date or…"

"…to pee?" Chloe finished after her. "Lois, I know what you're thinking, but…"

"You don't! I couldn't be more happier for you! Lex Luthor! You know, in the past I would be worried, but now… when he's changed so much and he's Clark's best friend… I can only be so happy for you! We can be one big family, because we're all friends!"

"Lois, wow! Slow down! We're just…" Chloe stopped. What were they, really? What was Lex to her? A lover? A boyfriend? Or was he simply the man she loved?

"You don't know what you feel for him, do you?" Lois suddenly saddened, looking at her cousin worryingly.

"No… I mean… yes? I don't know. I'm not… sure…" Chloe hesitated, biting her lower lip.

"Does he make you happy?" Lois asked.

"Very. I've never been happier with any other man in my life, but… not a single man has driven me crazy before either. Sometimes I want to kill him and other times I just want to love him."

"Well, boring relationships crumble. Maybe yours will survive?" Lois prompted.

"Maybe… Lex makes me happy and he makes me feel… ah…" she sighed blissfully, leaning against the sink.

"You're so into him!" Lois punched her in the side as she always did to people she liked.

"I really am," Chloe realized. "I can't survive a day without him, but… I'm also worried, you know? What if we never stop arguing? What if the passion we feel will burn out and all we will be left with will be hatred? What if we won't be able to even look at each other? I mean, come on, Lois, we argue even about the pettiest things in the world!"

"Well, you'll never know until you try," Lois advised. "What I learnt is that relationships are about compromises. There's no place for being stubborn. I argued with Clark too, but we reached to a point when we just let it go. What we have is more important to us than fighting for things that in fact do not matter at all."

* * *

><p>"You know, I was just surprised, that's all. I never said I didn't like your relationship with Chloe," Clark assured Lex. "I just feel… like I'm supposed to be protecting her. She's been hurt so many times. She's been alone for so long."<p>

"I know, Clark, she's your best friend, but the fact is… ever since she appeared in my life, she turned it upside down. I find her infuriating beyond belief and she's a pain in the ass, but… I love her, Clark. I don't know how or when it happened. I just… I fell in love with her."

"Are you sure? It happened so fast…"

"All I know is that I can't imagine my life without her anymore," Lex confessed. "She messed it all up, but I want it all. With her. Without her I am no one."

"That's big coming from you."

"I want to marry her," Lex suddenly said.

"What?" Clark asked in shock. "Are you sure? You've been going out barely a few weeks now!"

"And I would like to have your blessing, Clark. I've never been sure of anything in my entire life as I am sure of her."

"You know that this situation is very hard for me, don't you?" Clark asked. "You're both my best friends and I want the best for you. I just feel very protective of Chloe and I would hate if you ever hurt her."

"I can promise you, Clark, that I will not hurt her. I wouldn't be able to," Lex assured him. "Let me be the one to take care of her now."

"I guess I have to take your word for this. I can understand love, Lex. If you love her so much… be with her."


	6. Chapter 6

**AN **My apologies for updating so late. Now besides studying and going to classes, I have a lot of research and paper work to do because I want to spend my last year of studies abroad.

* * *

><p><strong>Part 6<strong>

_Some time later…_

Chloe could not believe it, yet it was happening.

She remembered how she had barely met Lex and after a few weeks of being together, he had just proposed to her. She could not refuse. She had been so in love with him. Maybe it was the bliss that a person had when falling in love, but getting married had seemed a very good idea. Why would they wait? Life was short and they should live to the fullest.

The wedding had not been a huge event. They had wanted to celebrate their love, not the Luthor social status or connections. The only people present there were Lois and Clark as their witnesses. Then Chloe and Lex had gone for their honeymoon.

Problems started when they had come back home. They had had even more reasons to argue when people had put a stigma on Chloe. She had married a Luthor, a person that had been the main subject of the papers a few years back. Maybe Lex had been right when he had told her that there was nothing to write about him anymore, but his reputation had still been there. Probably would always be there. He had promised to be by her side, to be her support and she had thought she had been silly to argue about such stuff in the first place. She had gone back to work. It had been hard for her because the gossip column of the Planet had been writing about her and Lex for quite some time. It had not been pleasant, but it was not true either. After a day at work Chloe had been going back to Lex's penthouse in Metropolis and he had made her forget. He loved her so much.

Now she was sitting in the bathroom with a small stick in her hand.

She couldn't believe it, yet it was there. A small plus.

She was pregnant.

They had been talking about having a child for quite some time, but they did not think it would happen so fast once Chloe got off her birth control.

Once the shock passed, it was replaced by a sudden giddy feeling. She was happy. She was already imagining a little baby in her arms. She saw the happiness on Lex's face once it would be brought into this world. She saw happiness. So much of it. Maybe baby was the answer. Maybe it would stop them from falling into those stupid insignificant quarrels? They were working hard not to have them, but sometimes they could not help it. They always apologized to each other by the end of the day though. They could not let those petty things come between them. Maybe baby would be the ultimate answer? Maybe their whole attention would be shifted to this little creature?

Chloe had tears in her eyes, so happy she was.

She heard the front door open and she ran out of the bathroom.

"Chloe? What happened? Why are you crying?" Lex asked worryingly when looking at her.

"Those are happy tears!" she squealed. "You're going to be a daddy!" she exclaimed and threw herself into his arms.

He caught her in his embrace, being a little shocked, but once the news sunk in, he actually smiled and tightened his hold on her, then twirled her around when laughing.

"We're going to be parents!" he yelled when he finally put her down. She pulled away from him and he cupped her face, looking deep into her eyes. His own were watery by now too. "Chloe, I'm so happy. We're going to give this baby a home we both never had. I will be the perfect daddy. I will be here and I will focus entirely on my family, I won't even work so much, I promise! Our baby will have both parents and those parents will love him so much!"

"Him?" Chloe asked.

"Or her. I don't care."

She smiled again.

"I love you."

"I love you too," Lex answered and kissed her. She put her arms around him again and then jumped him, entwining his waist with her legs. He carried her to the bedroom when he intended to make love to her for a very long time.

* * *

><p>"I'm just saying we should at least talk about it!" Lex yelled, arguing with his wife again. "This private school will give our baby the best education!"<p>

"NO!" Chloe shouted. "No, no and once again no! I will not send my baby to a private school where she'll have false friends!"

"And I will not send her to a school where she'll be picked on!" Lex did not agree with Chloe.

They just found out the gender of the baby and once they got home, they decided to choose the best future for her. That led to another fight.

"Lex, you were in private school," Chloe sighed heavily, lowering her voice and massaging her temples with the tips of her fingers. "And I know you were not happy."

"I was in a boarding school. Private school is in here, in Metropolis."

"When all the kids will compete with each other to be most popular! She will not have friends there! She will have false friends, because she's a Luthor! And she may even be hated!"

"Hated? Is that what you think of me? That people can only hate me?!"

"No! I love you! Your friends love you! We are your family! But this baby… once she gets to school, she will have a very hard time, so let's not make it even harder! She will not be placed in a private school. Period! I want her to get to know real life. Maybe it will be harder, but at least she'll know where she stands! And in a public school, of course they are bullies too and mean kids, but this will the place where she will be able to find true friends too! I met Clark in a public school!"

"Clark is one in a million!"

"There's always a person that can be your friend. You just need to give it time to find them."

"Why can't she do it in a private school?!"

"Lex, for a god's sake! Stop it!" Chloe shouted, so tired of this fight. "This is all meaningless… we shouldn't fight about this now!"

"This is the most serious thing we've ever had to discuss!" he was being stubborn.

"The kids in private schools will all be snobs! And I will _not _send our daughter there!" Chloe yelled, determined like the discussion was already finished.

"Ok," Lex sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. "Then we'll leave this decision to her."

"What?"

"If she doesn't like one school, she can go to the other."

"And I presume the first school will be off _your _choice?" Chloe asked. "Save the money for her college education, Lex."

"I have enough for everything!"

"You said you'll be spending more time at home once the baby is born."

"You're hanging on to my words! Stop that!"

"Our baby will not be a lab rat! She can't just go to all the schools to decide on her own just so we both stop fighting!"

Chloe took her bag and directed herself toward the door.

"Chloe!" Lex tried to stop her. He could tell she was crying by now.

"Leave me alone, Lex!" she jerked her arm free when he grabbed it. "I need time!" she cried out, tears now clearly streaming down her face. "How can we have a baby when we can't stop fighting?! We were fooling ourselves!"

"Chloe!"

But she did not listen.

Next thing he heard was her scream along with a sound that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

* * *

><p>"Doctor! How's my wife?!" Lex got to the doctor that had taken care of Chloe once they had got to the hospital. Chloe had fallen down the stairs. "Is she ok? Is the baby ok?" Lex was shaking. He was terrified and he felt such a guilt that it was killing him. He loved his wife more than anything and he loved the baby just the same. His daughter. They were going to call her Lily. At least one thing they agreed on. Now he knew it was stupid to argue about school. What difference did it make if their daughter would go to a public or private school? At least he stopped caring now. He had been raised differently than Chloe. Maybe she was the one that was right? She had been raised by her father alone, but still, she had managed to have much happier childhood than Lex had ever had with both his parents, at least before his mother died. Then it only got worse.<p>

"Mr. Luthor…" the doctor started and Lex knew already that something was wrong. "I am so sorry. We did everything we could, but your wife lost the baby. You can go see her now."

Lex felt like his whole world just crumbled down around him.

The baby he already was buying stuff to. The baby room that was ready in their penthouse. The baby he imagined he would hold in his arm. The daughter that he would have to raise and protect from all the bad guys. He even thought of the first day she would start dating and he would have to be the father she needed then…

It was all gone now. She was gone. Dead.

Was it the Luthor curse? Can't Luthors just be happy?

Lex walked into Chloe's room on wobbly legs. He barely saw anything. He was afraid to face his wife and in the same time, he needed to be by her side. He needed to take her pain away even if that would destroy him.

Only he was never prepared for _this_.

"Chloe?" he asked so quietly that he thought she did not even hear him.

Chloe was lying in a hospital bed, her face pale and swollen from tears. She did not look at him. She looked in the direction of the window on the other side of the room.

"Chloe?" Lex repeated, coming closer to her. What should he say to her? He had no idea…

It was she who spoke next and those words broke his heart all over again.

"Get out," she just told him, her voice emotionless, empty, alien to him now.

"Chloe…"

"You heard her," that was Lois who was now standing in the door and right next to her was Clark.

"But…" Lex started, looking at them.

"Get out, Lex before you make it worse," Lois was adamant and she actually threw him out of the room.

"But… Clark!" Lex turned to his friend, but he did not look at him at all.

He was left alone in the corridor, still not understanding what had just happened.

Then after another twenty minutes Clark walked out of there with a stone face.

"Can I see her now?" Lex got to the door immediately. "Clark, she's my wife!" he cried out when his friend was still in the door, blocking his way in.

"I'm sorry, Lex, but Chloe doesn't want to see you. There's nothing I can do."

* * *

><p><em>Now<em>

He still remembered how hurt he had been then. It had been days and Chloe had still not wanted to talk to him.

Then she had sent him divorce papers and he had known.

She could not be with him anymore. She hated him. She probably blamed him for losing their daughter. She was done with fighting.

If only he wasn't so stubborn… he could have had it all if only he had let go of some things.

Right now, when he was sitting by her side, again in a hospital, again it had happened because of him… he did not care about a school their child would have gone to. All he cared about was family. He just wanted it all back. He wanted family and he wanted a healthy child.

All gone…

"Chloe, I am so sorry…" he whispered, taking her hand and stroking it softly. "Can you ever forgive me? I love you so much… I never stopped…"


	7. Chapter 7

**Part 7**

Lex was running along the hospital corridor. He had just had a very important LuthorCorp meeting when he received a phone call informing him that Chloe was awake.

It had been three days. Three long days before she woke up. Now he needed to get there as fast as he could. No work, no company, nothing mattered to him more than his wife. She _still _was his wife.

He was late though. The Daily Planet was closer to Metropolis General than LuthorCorp and Lois was already there with Chloe.

He was not going to back out this time. Not even Lois Lane could stop him. He wondered where Clark was, but it was typical of his friend to be very busy. He was sure Clark show himself soon, so he needed to get in now.

He knocked and then stepped inside, his heart beating hard in his chest and he saw her lying in bed and smiling to Lois. Chloe looked so fragile, so pale, yet she seemed to be in a good mood. That would change as soon as she would see him, he knew it.

"Chloe?" he said and both she and Lois looked at him.

He was right. Both smiles were gone.

"Chloe… eh… can we talk, please?" he asked, feeling like a complete idiot.

"I guess so," Lois said to both Chloe's and Lex's astonishment.

Chloe's cousin had never had anything against Lex until the moment he had caused their marriage to break apart. Since that Lois stood loyal by Chloe's side and Lex could not really blame her. Clark was the only one that still divided his time between his both friends, not really able to pick any above the other. Clark was always noble and understanding, he never judged and that was a feature Lex loved about him. Sometimes he thought that thanks to Clark he was who he was now, he had not become his father as so many people had predicted for him.

"He's spent the whole three days by your bedside and even I didn't have the heart to throw him out," Lois told Chloe ad her excuse. "And I think you need to solve some stuff, Chlo." After having said that, she left the room.

Lex thought Lois hated him and now he could kiss her for this opportunity. Of course he did not.

"Chloe…" Lex started and walked over to her bed to take the chair Lois had been sitting in before.

"Lex, I want you to know that I don't blame you for what happened," Chloe told him. "I don't blame you for what happened to Lily, I never have."

At the sound of his unborn and already lost child's name, something inside of Lex broke and he wanted to hold Chloe's hand. She pulled hers away from his what hurt him even more. Her eyes were not longer fixed on his either.

"But that accident made me realize that… even if there's passion and desire between us… we can't really build a healthy relationship on it. We just can't coexist peacefully, Lex. You need to understand this."

"So you want me to just give up on us?" he asked, his voice strained. "Chloe, I love you. I will never stop."

"Love isn't enough."

"No, but our love is strong. Besides, we can work on things. I've changed. I know now that fighting… it was all futile, all for nothing… Chloe, I need you back. I _need _you to give me a second chance." His voice was begging her now. "I'm sorry I hurt you, but I can't live without you."

"Well, then we'll just have to wait, won't we?" she asked.

"Chloe…"

"Please, leave," she said, looking into his eye one last time before she closed hers and he noticed the stray tear running down her cheek.

"Chloe…" he repeated, so close to breaking. She was his whole life and he could not believe that he had screwed up so much. He wanted her. He never wanted anyone else. He needed her in his life.

How would he go on without her?

"Lex," that was Clark's voice coming from the door. "I'm sorry, but I think your presence here is just hurting her."

Lex stood up, not really knowing what he was doing. His legs led him to the door and then through it and he suddenly found himself by his car.

Suddenly, he raised his fist and hit the window and it shattered into pieces, hurting him.

He did not care. He needed pain. He needed this more than this emotional agony that he could not cure.

He got into his car and started the engine.

He did not even know where he was going. He just needed to get away…

The image of battered Chloe in a hospital bed was haunting him. The image of the still unsigned divorce papers stained with her blood left him in agony.

And he was the one who had done this to her.

He had broken her.

* * *

><p>Chloe had just got home and she did not really know what to do with herself.<p>

She had been discharged but still on the leave from work. She did not want any friends over either. She was sick of Lois taking care of her and of Clark just standing there all the time, thinking hard like he was about to break his own brain. Of course if something like that was a thing, which it was not.

Chloe was sick of been taken care of and she was even more sick of those pitiful eyes looking at her.

She made her choice. She was not happy.

But she needed to do this. Period.

She slowly unpacked her things. Really, Lois had outdone herself when she had been bringing her all those stuff and clothes to the hospital.

Once that was done Chloe needed coffee, so she went to the kitchen to get some. She felt restless. She was sick of lying in bed. Besides, she was never seriously injured.

In that moment somebody knocked on the door.

"Lois, I told you I didn't want any…" she stopped when she opened it because it was not Lois. It was Lex. "What are you doing here?" she asked, trying to ignore the pang in her heart.

He looked awful. Worse than she did. He was miserable, pale, his eyes had no life in them and his tie was uneven, the shirt only partially tucked into his pants. He was clean though, very clean, she could tell because as soon as he saw her, he grabbed her face and pulled her closer into a kiss.

She forgot about what she was going to say. She even forgot she should throw him out of there. All that mattered to her were his lips on hers, his hands running all over her body, touching and nipping on places he knew she loved him to touch.

"You're not leaving me," he said in between the kisses. "You know we're belong together. You love me just like I love you." His lips were now on her neck, mouthing and licking her pulse that was racing now.

"Lex… I…" but she stopped again when he slid his hand under her shirt and cupped her breasts, then went down, down her stomach until his hand was in her jeans and then cupped her intimately. "Lex!" Now Chloe started moaning. "Oh, yes, Lex, yes…"

She soon reached her climax, thrashing against his hand and the three fingers that were now penetrating her.

"Yes, baby," Lex answered when he raised her up from the ground and carried to the bedroom. He lowered her gently on the bed and started stripping her.

She was long gone, lost in senses when he entered her, groaning and ravishing in the feeling of her. He needed her so much and he wanted nothing more than to keep making her happy for the rest of their lives.

"Lex… Lex… Lex…" she was repeating his name as a mantra when he kept driving into her. Her nails were scratching his back but he did not care. She was his again.

And he was hers.

She forgot about all their problems for the night and once they both reached their peaks, she let him cradle her in his arms and they fell asleep like that.

* * *

><p>When Lex woke up the next morning she was gone.<p>

"Chloe?" he asked and then sat on the bed. "Chloe!"

His hand covered something lying on the bed on Chloe's side.

It was a folded piece of paper.

_Lex, _

_ It was a really wonderful night and I will never forget it, but I can't change my decision._

_ It may be different between us now, but in a few months… years… it will be back to normal, back to fighting._

_ I do not want this life for either of us._

_ Please, understand. I am tired of this constant struggle we're having. _

_ Besides, how a relationship that basically started in a bar's bathroom can last?_

_ I love you, but love is not enough._

_Chloe_

* * *

><p>"I think you should call him and try to work it all up!" Lois, still to Chloe's shock, suggested.<p>

"I thought you'd be the first to tell him to go to hell," Chloe answered her cousin. "Why are you suddenly defending him?"

"It's because I saw how much he loves you, Chloe. I only saw that kind of a look once in another man and it was Clark looking at me. Trust me, I'd had a lot of relationships in the past and none of them ended well, so I do know love when I see one. You should give him a chance."

"How can I risk so much? How do I know he won't end up hurting me more?" Chloe asked, thinking hard.

"You never know until you try," Lois advised. "You can call him or you can wonder what could have been for the rest of your life. It's your choice."

"Have you seen Clark recently?" Chloe asked.

"Nope. He's away on business and don't you change the topic! Come on, Chloe! Pick up the phone and call him!"

Chloe sighed heavily, not really knowing what to do.

Like in an answer, her cell called on its own.

"Speaking of the witch, it's Clark," she said and answered. "Hi, Clark, how are you?..."

"Lois was watching her cousin's face for a moment and then she got seriously worried.

First there was shock, then she heard a loud NO coming for Chloe and then… she dropped the phone.

"Chloe?" Lois asked her, touching her arm and shaking it a little. "Chloe?"

The call got disconnected.

"Chloe?!"

"It was Clark…" Chloe said, looking into the distance like she was hypnotized. "He said… he said…" she sniffed a few times and then her eyes were filled with tears. "He said… Lex's gone… he… he… killed himself…"

"WHAT?!" Lois yelled.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: OK, OK, WAIT A SEC. DON'T COME TO ME WITH TORCHES AND PITCHFORKS JUST YET!<strong>

Wait patiently to the next chapter that will be the epilogue, alright? Promise you - it will be fine! And there will be a happy ending with a little twist!


	8. Chapter 8

**Epilogue**

"This is some kind of a joke!" Chloe was screaming. "You can't just give up your life because you lost the love of your life!"

"You turn him down pretty hard, Chlo," Lois said, wishing she knew how to comfort her grieving cousin.

"Yeah, but wasn't you that told me once that no guy was ever worth taking my own life? It goes both ways!"

"Chloe, you were fourteen and Clark just turned you down. I saw how depress you were so I told you that. I knew it wasn't real love."

"Well, of course it wasn't! I was fourteen! Lex is… was… oh my god…" It was all so incomprehensible to Chloe. She wanted to die herself. She did not know how to deal with this pain. It was all too much. TOO MUCH.

She had gone through shock and hysteria, now she was just crying, could not seem to stop.

"Clark told me we should get to Luthor mansion in Smallville," Lois informed Chloe, soothing her back.

"Why the hell there?!"

"I guess it was Lex's wish. He met you in Smallville all those years ago… oh God, I'm so sorry, Chlo, I didn't mean to…" Helpless Lois hugged her sobbing cousin once again.

"I think… I think…" Chloe kept on sobbing. "I made a mistake. I should've given him that second chance. I mean… I can't live in a world when he's not in it! I was so stupid! Lois, it's my fault he's dead! It's like I did this to him! I could've fought. He had. I just gave up! I killed him! And if he did it all to make me realize how much I loved him and to punish me… he did it right. I deserve this pain."

"He's a son of a bitch! That's who he is!" Lois suddenly yelled and Chloe was so shocked with that outburst that she stopped crying altogether.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"He knew exactly what this would do to you! He knew you loved him! He knew it would hurt you and destroy you and he still went through with it! What kind of a Luthor is he anyway? Luthors are supposed to be survivors no matter what! This just does not add up to him!"

* * *

><p>Chloe and Lois arrived at the mansion the next morning and after a brief talk with Clark, Chloe needed to be alone. To just get away from all of this. To run. Run far away.<p>

Only she could not. Besides, running was not the answer. The pain would still be there. She could not get away from it. She did not know how to live with it either.

Clark informed her that Lex had used a gun. He had shot himself in the head.

Chloe hated Lex for it. She loved him so much and for that she hated him too.

She hated company. She hated being alone.

She hated everything.

And most of all, she hated herself.

She walked into the mansion's garden and just stood there with her eyes closed. She folded her arms on her chest and she remembered.

She remembered being with Lex. She remembered his eyes, the taste of his lips, the smell of his skin. She wanted it all back. She did not care if they would fight or just love each other. She just wanted him back. She knew now how much she had hurt him when all she had been trying to do was to protect herself.

She started dreaming and that brought her some solace. She knew that when she would wake up from that surge of memories the pain would come back twice as strong, but she needed that momentary respite. _Lex was here. Or she was there, in the past with him. What was important - they were together, happy. He would take her in his arms…_

Something was wrong. Chloe's daydreaming seemed to become more real. She could clearly feel Lex's arms around her, she could feel his chest against her back, his breath on her skin.

"What the…?!" She jumped like his body burnt her and she swirled around, clearly facing a living and breathing ghost. "LEX?!"

He stood there. He was just there. Alive and well.

"LEX! You're alive!" The first impulse was to cry from happiness and to jump into his arms. His own went around her and she breathed in the familiar, dear smell of him, she listened to his heartbeat that was a little too fast in the moment.

The pain was gone. It was soothed. By him.

Then she realized what had really happened.

"You son of a bitch!" she yelled at him and pushed him away so hard that he stumbled backwards. Fortunately, he kept his balance, but Chloe would be more smug if he fell. "Do you have any idea what I've been through?! Is this funny to you?! I thought _you were dead _for a fuck's sake!"

"Chloe, Chloe… I… I'm sorry," he said.

"That's all?! You're fucking sorry?! How would you feel if I let you believe I committed suicide?! And Clark! How on earth did you get Clark to agree to it?!"

"That was hard. I admit. But eventually he followed through. He saw how much I've changed and how much I love you. How much you love me."

"You said the very same line about changing when we met in that bar!"

"Yes, but back there I meant my being on the right path."

"Do you have an answer for everything?!"

Chloe stopped talking and closed her eyes. How could a person go from grief to angriness so fast? She was furious with Lex. She had been always furious with him and she would probably always be.

"Chloe, please… you left me. You gave me no chance to win you back. I _needed _to make you realize what you were missing. What you caused _us _to miss. We need each other. Do you honestly believe that you'll find another person you'll love so much?"

"Well, no…" she admitted, biting her lower lip. "And don't you make me say what I think of your smugness right now!"

She was angry. She wanted him. It was always like that.

"At least you can't say we'll be boring together," Lex noticed. "Chloe, please, I beg of you. Give me a chance."

She looked him in the eyes. They were so sad. So blue gray and so yearning. She remembered seeing them hazy with ecstasy that she caused him, full of love when he looked at her and so sad when she had told him to leave her alone.

She loved this man as much as she hated him for what he had done.

She also could not deny any longer that he was her life and she would never meet anyone who would affect her this way. He was right, they would never be boring.

"We… We would have to work on our issues," she said to her own astonishment. Her heart was beating too fast and she was hyperventilating. She was still in a deep shock. She could not comprehend what had happened exactly those last twelve hours. "We would have to learn how to compromise. And don't you think you can just get away from what you did here. It will take a lot of time for me to forgive you for hurting me like this. Lex, you made me believe you were dead. How can a person do something like that?"

"A Luthor who is desperate can do anything. But don't you worry, from now on I will never do _anything _to hurt you ever again. You have my word."

"If we do this…" Chloe said, but she already knew she would have to. As much as she hated to admit that, if Lex had not 'faked' his own death, she would have simply lived alone to the rest of her life, happy that he was in this world too. Eventually, he would have found someone else, not for love, probably to forget and she would not have had the right to blame him nor hate him for it. It would have been all her fault.

What he had done was to make her realize that they were meant to be and it worked.

She knew she was stubborn and Lois would not have convinced her to come back to Lex. Even if Chloe had wanted to, she would have been too proud.

"One last condition," she said.

"Yes?" he asked, looking at her so intensely and with such a fear and hope in the same time that he melted her heart. She wanted the pain to stop. For the both of them.

"I will decide where our future children will go to school."

The happiness that appeared in his eyes nearly leveled her and then he was there, by her side again, taking her in his arms and kissing her.

Yes, he was a Luthor and a part of him would always be one, but on the other hand, what other choice did he have to get her back?

She just wanted to forget this week - hell, this few months they had spent apart - never happened. Chloe herself had hurt Lex so much that time that she fully deserved one day of grieving…

"You _did what_?!" They heard Lois's scream as they kissed.

"It was his idea and he was desperate, Lois! And I agreed because… well, I couldn't see them hurting like that…" Clark was explaining himself.

"I've _had that_, you idiot! I could've got Chloe back to Lex without any fake deaths! Do you have any idea what…"

Chloe laughed against Lex's lips.

* * *

><p>All four of them - five if counting the baby growing in Chloe's stomach - gathered on the beach for her and Lex's vowel renewal.<p>

They needed a new start. They needed to do this all right this time.

They had spent those last few weeks on talking over matters and then having sex, but what was important was the fact that they had come to an understanding. They decided their love would always be more important than any other thing that could get in the way. From now on if they disagreed on something, they politely talked about it, but only when it was important. When it wasn't, they went for compromise or ignore the upcoming fight.

It had been hard at the beginning, but they were good at it now.

They made sure they never forgot how important they were to each other.

Chloe could finally look Lex in the eye and believe him, believe they could make this work, also she could forgive him for what he had done as well as he forgave her.

They started fresh and this time they would succeed.

They had realized their problem was rushing into things without thinking, but now they had matured and grown together.

They would not make the same mistakes…

…and in a few years there would be two small children running around their apartment, thinking how wonderful parents they had. They had wonderful childhood with a loving mother and a father who was always there when they needed him because family came first to him. They also never heard their parents argue.

**The end**


End file.
